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Behind The Lens
Location
I'm pretty sure this little jewel and its twin were in the side yard by an area covered in wood chips, which has given me some of my best and most recent mushroom photos to date.Time
Mushrooms like this do not last very long. They are only this good looking in the early morning hours, turning black and curling up around the edges. Less sun and they last longer.Lighting
Personally, I use almost exclusively, natural light. I am anxious to look at nature's tiny surprises just as they are. I can honestly say I have never used a flash on my macro pix. Usually I prefer overcast as these tiny things on the ground have a unique ability to reflect all sunlight, causing white-out spots on the subject.Equipment
I have a lovely Canon t3i Rebel EOS, and an even lovelier Tamron 60mm F/2 Macro lens. I do have several tripods of various heights, but a lot of these photos from ground level the camera is set on a 6x10" piece of foam about 1/2" thick, just to keep it dry. My Tamron Lens does this beautiful bokeh and shallow DOF that gives the illusion that there is only one mushroom with a mirror image in the background.Inspiration
I am inspired to take photos of things too small to see with the naked eye. There is SOOO much going on that we don't ever see. Mushrooms are one of my favorite subjects, esp. the smaller the better. Japanese Umbrella Mushrooms are pretty and very tiny and disappear in the other stuff on the ground if you aren't specifically looking for them. To find them in my own yard is a sweet surprise...Editing
Generally I do some post-processing, but I have an old computer and it won't hold anything bigger than Adobe Photoshop Elements, so I do little changes like under 'Quick' and 'Lighting' I work with highlights, shadows, and mid tone contrast, and maybe, but not often, I may add a little color concentration, but I don't usually need it.In my camera bag
I am fairly new at this and don't have a lot of equipment, one camera, and only one lens I am using right now. What I DO use is knee pads. So much of my photography is ground level, that I find really good knee pads essential. I also use the remote button to take a lot of these pictures.Feedback
To take pictures of subjects like these you have to take into consideration the wind and sun. I'm sure it has to do with their attractiveness to bugs, but they have a very definite ability to reflect bright sunlight. Overcast or at least somewhat cloudy is always best, and the earlier in the morning for two reasons. One, they don't stay pretty very long, and two, there is almost always less wind the earlier you go out. Notice the tiny stems these sit on...if you get close and breath near them, they move. A remote button, and a just-bigger-than-the-camera-sponge pad to set it on, and don't breath...